Summary

St. Francis House rebuilds lives by providing refuge and pathways to stability for adults experiencing homelessness and poverty.

St. Francis House is a welcoming and inclusive community. Every day of the year, we enable individuals to meet their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. We transform lives by using a holistic approach to understanding and addressing their behavioral health, housing and employment needs. We commit ourselves to helping those we serve achieve renewed lives of dignity and self-determination.

Mission Statement

St. Francis House rebuilds lives by providing refuge and pathways to stability for adults experiencing homelessness and poverty.

St. Francis House is a welcoming and inclusive community. Every day of the year, we enable individuals to meet their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. We transform lives by using a holistic approach to understanding and addressing their behavioral health, housing and employment needs. We commit ourselves to helping those we serve achieve renewed lives of dignity and self-determination.

Revenue vs. Expense ($000s)

Expense Breakdown 2017 (%)

Expense Breakdown 2016 (%)

Expense Breakdown 2015 (%)

For more details regarding the organization's financial information, select the financial tab and review available comments.

Overview

Mission Statement

St. Francis House rebuilds lives by providing refuge and pathways to stability for adults experiencing homelessness and poverty.

St. Francis House is a welcoming and inclusive community. Every day of the year, we enable individuals to meet their basic needs for food, clothing and shelter. We transform lives by using a holistic approach to understanding and addressing their behavioral health, housing and employment needs. We commit ourselves to helping those we serve achieve renewed lives of dignity and self-determination.

Background Statement

Founded in 1984, St. Francis House is a nonsectarian, nonprofit daytime shelter providing refuge, readiness, and recovery services designed to help adults experiencing homelessness and poverty establish lives independent of shelters and institutions. St. Francis House is the largest homeless day shelter in Massachusetts and provides services to 500 unduplicated guests each day. As a low barrier shelter we turn no one away and are open 365 days of the year. For many of Boston’s homeless, we are their last hope. 6,451 individuals were served in FY2018.

As a Day Center, St. Francis House works in concert with the night shelters in the Greater Boston area and fills a much needed niche in day services for homeless adults. We open at 6:30 AM when the night shelters are closing and close at 3:00 PM when the night shelters are reopening (except on Wednesdays when we close at 2:00 PM for staff workshops and training).

Our guests are comprised of individuals that are homeless or housing insecure, who struggle financially and emotionally to maintain their housing. Our goals are to alleviate or prevent the intense pain and suffering of homelessness and eliminate barriers to moving beyond homelessness by providing a continuum of direct services. We provide our guests with everything they need to reclaim their dignity and rebuild their lives: nutritious meals, clothing, access to medical care, mental health counseling, case management, job and life skills training, and permanent housing. It is the integration of these wraparound services – all available on-site - that makes us unique among homeless service providers.

Impact Statement

St. Francis House is also unique among homeless service providers in that we are committed to providing both refuge and pathways to stability. We ensure our guests have access to food, shelter, clothing and other emergency services while also providing a holistic menu of services designed to assist individuals in achieving stability that will ensure their successful transition from homelessness to a permanent and stable home.

Last year, St. Francis House served a total of 6,451 adults experiencing homelessness and poverty.

4,697 individuals participated in our meals program, where we served an average of 560 meals per day.

675 individuals were provided with resources to acquire a state-issued ID cards, which is needed to receive public benefits.

492 individuals received clinical and case management services.

61 individuals were housed in single-room, permanent housing available in our Next Step Supported Housing Program.

97 individuals received job training and life skills in our Moving Ahead Program.

Other Impacts:

In 2016, St. Francis House in partnership with the Planning Office for Urban Affairs purchased the former Boston Young Men's Christian Union building at 48 Boylston Street.

With the redevelopment of 48 Boylston, we will provide 46 new units of permanent affordable housing. Construction will be complete by December 2018 and we expect all units to be fully occupied by January 2019. A street level commercial space will allow St. Francis House to start a social business enterprise that will provide a career path for homeless men and women. By early 2019, we will have re-located our Administrative Offices from 39 Boylston Street to 48 Boylston Street. This will allow St. Francis House to successfully repurpose space for a new Substance Use Disorder Treatment/Recovery Center, expanding our services at 39 Boylston Street.

Needs Statement

In recent years, funding for the homeless has shifted from the funding of emergency shelters to the funding of permanent housing and homeless families. While we believe no one should be homeless, these changing priorities have made the homeless adult population we serve even more vulnerable. And, this vulnerability is further exacerbated by the public perception that homeless adults are less deserving because they should be able to care for themselves – even though many are mentally ill, fleeing from domestic violence, or suffered from neglect or abuse as children.

Although St. Francis House receives some government support, 70% of our $10M operating budget is privately raised. We depend on donations from corporations, foundations, and individuals like you in order to provide food, shelter, clothing and other emergency services to Boston’s most vulnerable population.

With your support we are able to close the gap between government revenue and the amount really needed to operate our programs and services, in order to provide:

4,697 individuals with breakfast and lunch

492 individuals with clinical and/or case management services

60,000 items of clothing per year

330 individuals with job and life skills training

102 units of permanent housing

CEO Statement

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Board Chair Statement

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Geographic Area Served

City of Boston- Citywide (Indiv. neighborhoods also listed)City of Boston- Allston/ BrightonCity of Boston- Back BayCity of Boston- Beacon Hill/ West EndCity of Boston- CharlestownCity of Boston- Chinatown/ Leather DistrictCity of Boston- North DorchesterCity of Boston- South DorchesterCity of Boston- DowntownCity of Boston- East BostonCity of Boston- Fenway/ KenmoreCity of Boston- Hyde ParkCity of Boston- Jamaica PlainCity of Boston- MattapanCity of Boston- Mission HillCity of Boston- North EndCity of Boston- RoslindaleCity of Boston- RoxburyCity of Boston- South BostonCity of Boston- South End/Bay VillageCity of Boston- Harbor IslandsCity of Boston- West RoxburyMETROWEST REGION, MANORTHEAST REGION, MASOUTHEAST REGION, MASTATEWIDEGREATER BOSTON REGION, MA

As the largest homeless day shelter in New England, St. Francis House provides 560 meals per day and provides 250 changes of clothing per week, on average. We support an estimated 6,451 unique individuals each year. With our open door policy of eliminating barriers for entry, we offer programs and services in three key program areas: refuge, readiness, and recovery. We serve the following city neighborhoods and near-by suburbs:

Allston

Back Bay

Beacon Hill

Brighton

Cambridge

Charlestown

Chelsea

Chinatown

Dorchester

Downtown Boston

East Boston

Everett

Fenway/Kenmore

Hyde Park

Jamaica Plain

North End

Roxbury

South Boston

South End

Waltham

West Roxbury

Organization Categories

Human Services - Homeless Services/Centers

Housing, Shelter - Homeless Shelters

Employment - Vocational Rehabilitation

Independent research has been conducted on this organization's theory of change or on the effectiveness of this organization's program(s)

No

Programs

We know that not everyone who comes to St. Francis House is ready to make changes in their lives the moment they cross our threshold. We believe that providing safe and engaging spaces infused with in-reach activities, workshops, connections to resources, and therapeutic activities builds connections and fosters readiness for action to change.

Part of our work, and where we really shine, is in our commitment and ability to develop relationships with individuals. We help guests who come here for day shelter refuge services create a sense of hope and belief that they can make positive change in their lives, and then wrap the necessary services around them to ensure that they are getting a stable footing in moving forward with their lives. Our Resource Center, the Carolyn Connors Women’s Center and expressive therapy through our Margaret Stewart Lindsay Art Studio are key to helping connect more deeply with guests.

Last year 2,161 individuals were served in our Resource Center, 458 women were served in our Carolyn Connors Women’s Center, 356 individuals used the Margaret Stewart Lindsay Art Studio, and 4,078 individuals received triage assessments to expedite services as well as in-reach services, through pro-active engagement with guests to welcome them and inform them about our extensive programs.

To quickly assess our guests’ immediate needs and provide the targeted services so they will spend less time homeless.

Program Long-Term Success

To instill a sense of hope and belief that an individual can change the trajectory of their life and help them get established on that pathway.

Program Success Monitored By

Examples of Program Success

Dee first began using refuge services available in the St. Francis House Day Shelter. Over time, she spent her time watching TV in the Women's Center but avoided conversation with both the Women's Center Coordinator and other guests. After a few days, St. Francis House security staff were contacted by the Boston Police Department, who reported that Dee has been found sleeping (trespassing) in building hallways the past several evenings.

A female clinician was identified to provide targeted inreach and engage Dee with clean clothing, MBTA passes, and the opportunity to talk when she wanted. After two weeks of generalized engagement, Dee asked if she could talk with the clinician. In private, Dee reported being pregnant with six children, and asked the clinician to help her obtain maternity clothes. The clinician assessed Dee's self-report to be a delusion, and agreed to assist in order to build a trusting relationship. The clinician congratulated Dee on the pregnancy, emphasized that pregnancy is exciting but also stressful, and invited Dee to come talk whenever she needed.

For several weeks, Dee occasionally dropped in to talk with the clinician. They discussed Dee's plans for housing once the babies were born. Dee hoped the city would offer her family shelter. The clinician also encouraged Dee to schedule an appointment with the in-house medical clinic staff at St. Francis House to "make sure that Dee's chances of getting family shelter were increased by documenting the pregnancy." The clinician walked her to the medical clinic, introduced her to staff, and helped her make the first appointment.

The clinician continued to engage Dee in conversations about what she would do once her children arrive and how she would support them, while continuing to provide clothing and transportation passes. Over time, Dee reported feeling "more stressed" about the pregnancy, which prompted the clinician to suggest seeing a psychiatrist to help her manage the stress. Dee agreed and was connected with a psychiatrist that comes to St. Francis House each Wednesday. Dee liked speaking with her. She declined medication, but agreed to meet weekly. She also began meeting with staff weekly to discuss housing. Eventually, Dee agreed to stay at Safe Haven for "the sake of her babies" and received assistance applying for Department of Mental Health services in order to access housing. It took several months of engagement, but with our assistance, Dee became a Department of Mental Health client and is now living at Parker West Shelter and receives services. She stills comes in on occasion to speak with the clinician and other staff.

Recovery Services: Mental Health, Case Management, and Housing

St. Francis House staff understands the unique challenges of coping with trauma, mental illness, substance use, and chronic medical conditions while homeless. Because of this understanding, St. Francis House staff are flexible, non-judgmental, and capable of welcoming and engaging guests without negative regard to presenting behaviors that would not be understood or tolerated in other institutions. Our holistic and flexible services help guests address their immediate needs and create clear pathways to securing, maintaining, as well as sustaining their housing once they get it.

Mental Health & Case Management

St. Francis House has a full complement of case managers, counselors, and licensed mental health clinicians on staff who, along with psychiatrists, lawyers, and other specialists address a variety of our guests’ needs. Counseling staff assist with finding housing, seeking employment, accessing essential benefits (such as SNAP/food stamps, disability, and other public services), achieving and maintaining sobriety, resolving legal matters, and providing general support and referrals. Clinical staff engage guests on a therapeutic level, and work closely with guests who struggle with mental illness. All services are available in English and Spanish.

Simply put, St. Francis House is unique in its approach to considering and addressing the challenges people face that has led to their homelessness, kept them homeless, or may rise up to make them homeless again in the future. For us, getting housed is only one of the goals. Along the way we also need to help individuals find ways to increase their income and their abilities to find a variety of solutions to access and keep housing—for example, creating real pathways to employment and life skills that enable them to navigate life’s day-to-day challenges.

Finding and securing safe, affordable housing is no easy feat for a homeless individual, particularly if he/she has a criminal history or has had housing difficulties in the past due to struggles with substance use or mental illness. Located on the top four floors of our building, the Next Step Housing Program offers a much needed niche in the affordable housing market, blending both rental housing and program supports to enable formerly homeless men and women to gain more stability in their lives. Next Step offers 56 units of single-room permanent housing. Our guests benefit from the assistance of in-house professional case managers who provide individual support and aid in the development of the life skills required for community reintegration and independence. There is no time limit on how long a resident can live in Next Step. Last year, 61 individuals were served through our Next Step Permanent Housing Program.

In 2016, St. Francis House, in partnership with the Planning Office for Urban Affairs, purchased the former Boston Young Men's Christian Union building at 48 Boylston Street.

“The purchase of 48 Boylston Street will allow us to create affordable housing in the heart of downtown Boston in a neighborhood that’s watched average rents skyrocket. Without an affordable home, finding a job and being an active member of the community is impossible. This building will strengthen our mission to provide pathways to stability for individuals experiencing homelessness.” – Karen LaFrazia, President & CEO of St. Francis House

After completing significant renovations in January 2019, an additional 46 units of new housing will be available at 48 Boylston Street to formerly homeless and low income individuals. St. Francis House will have a total of 104 housing units in Downtown Boston.

Budget

$2,259,575.00

Category

Housing, General/Other Homeless Shelter

Population Served

Homeless Poor,Economically Disadvantaged,Indigent Adults

Program Short-Term Success

Recovery Services were provided to 723 guests last
year. Through Recovery Services, 293 new guests were referred to a staff
member(s) that provided individualized mental health counseling, substance use
disorder treatment, and/or case management services in FY2018. Last year,
61 individuals were served through our Next Step Permanent Housing Program.

Program Long-Term Success

Individuals will achieve stability in housing, income and behavioral health.

Program Success Monitored By

To ensure that we can quickly and effectively connect people to the services they need, we began conducting intake assessments with all newly registered guests for the first time in FY2017. By conducting these assessments we are able to welcome guests to St. Francis House as new members of our community and begin to immediately begin to build a relationship with these new guests who are at a very vulnerable point in their lives. We provide them with a membership card, talk with them about our services, determine what their immediate needs are, and get them to the best service to meet those needs—all within a short time of coming through our front door.

Secondly, we are able to relatively quickly establish a simple baseline measurement of each individual’s level of stability using a holistic point of view, giving us the starting point we need to systematically measure changes over time (through assessments captured every 90 days) for those guests who end up participating in individualized services. Doing this assessment is essential to our ability to understand the effectiveness of our services in meeting our organizational outcomes and determining the impact of our work on our guests.

The assessment, the Arizona Self-Sufficiency Matrix (SSM), is a well-known and widely accepted tool for use in human services in particular. The SSM determines an individual’s level of functioning across 20 domains, including but not limited to: housing, employment, income/money management, mental health, substance use, benefits, community engagement, life skills, disabilities, food, adult education/training, physical health, legal matters, and social relationships. Using a 1 - 5 scoring system for each domain, we can rate an individual’s current level of stability. (1 = in-crisis, 2 = vulnerable, 3=safe, 4=stable 5 = thriving.) Using this simple, holistic tool ensures that we are asking about and considering the “whole person,” including both their assets and their challenges when they first come to St. Francis House. And, it opens up conversations that enable us to align the best possible services to each individual and create service plans and goals. Once we have this baseline measure, we are able to re-assess individuals periodically, and therefore, test the effectiveness of our interventions by monitoring changes over time. Our goal is to help people move from being “in crisis” (score of 1) to being “safe” or “stable” (3 or 4) in 8 core domains: housing, income, benefits, employment, substance use, mental health, community engagement, and life skills.

Our skilled intake specialists also determine if someone’s level of crisis is acute, and if so, conduct risk assessments that identify whether someone could be harmful to themselves or someone else. This enables us to swiftly intervene with emergency and/or clinical staff at a time when, without this formal assessment in place, an individual might have found themselves “lost” in the chaos of homelessness and even more at risk.

Examples of Program Success

The story begins when Armando was five and his stepfather came into his life. The physical and verbal abuse started immediately and continued for almost a decade. He was locked in closets and left outside in the rain. He remembers constant hunger and anxiety about when the next beating would occur. At school, Armando was unable to focus and would check the clock compulsively, dreading the final bell when he would have to return home. By age 10, he was drinking to cope.

Although some adults in his life knew about the abuse, no one ever intervened. His alcoholic mother was also abused by her husband and she would ask her son after the beatings: “What did you do to provoke him this time?”

Corey, a social worker at St. Francis House, recalls that when she began doing therapy with Armando, he could tolerate no more than 10 minutes at a time and was so anxious he would crumple a plastic water bottle as they spoke. “We moved slowly and I reassured him that whatever he could do was enough for that day,” says Corey. “He had a lot of relapses, but we worked hard on his not letting his shame prevent him from coming in.” In addition to sessions with Corey, Armando also received his meals, clothing, and psychiatric care at St. Francis House.

He remembers one particular session with Corey — a turning point— when he finally allowed himself to grieve for his lost childhood. “I cried like a baby,” recalls Armando. “I had never cried before. I felt better. I thought the abuse was my fault, but it wasn’t. I learned that from Corey.”

With Cory’s help, Armando eventually got sober. She taught him how to quell his anxiety, which finally enabled him to be around other people. They worked together on securing and furnishing an apartment in West Roxbury and eventually he was able to start working part time as a security guard.

Corey was the most constant presence in his life and was always there when he needed her, says Armando. When she was on maternity leave, Armando’s apartment suffered severe water damage and he was unhappy with his landlord’s response. He was ready to stop paying rent and abandon the apartment. Corey coached him over the phone about how to advocate for himself and he successfully resolved the issue, even convincing his landlord to put him up in a hotel until the repairs were done.

“This is a good example of why it’s so important for us to continue to work with some of our guests, even after they’re housed — to ensure they don’t return to homelessness,” says Corey.

Recovery Services: Workforce Development

Job and Life Skills Training

St. Francis House is a resource for job-seekers currently experiencing homelessness to receive specialized support, vocational training, and job search assistance, to better overcome severe barriers to employment.

Our flagship Moving Ahead Program (MAP) focuses on vocational rehabilitation--preparing individuals with histories of homelessness, mental illness, substance abuse, and incarceration for employment. By providing comprehensive and holistic support services to participants while helping them gain the employment skills they need, individuals are better able to find and keep work, achieve greater self-sufficiency, and live more fulfilling and stable lives. MAP is a 14-week curriculum-based program that provides a weekly stipend to pay for essential items and an MBTA pass to remove barriers to attendance. We also provide case management services, workplace clothing, and breakfast and lunch daily. Our Alumni Services are provided for as long as needed.

Most traditional job training programs link participants with low-wage, low-skill jobs and fail to emphasize job satisfaction and interests - which are key to job retention, fostering a positive relationship with work, and a longer-term career trajectory. Unfulfilling jobs reinforce a lack of self-esteem and a feeling of hopelessness, which in turn can lead to relapse and reoccurring unemployment.

Additional Workforce Development Programs

Over the last year, SFH has reorganized and expanded its workforce development programs in order to meet the growing and varied needs of our homeless employment seekers. In the summer of 2017, St. Francis House was selected by the Boston Private Industry Council (PIC) and the Mayor’s Office of Workforce Development (OWD) as a MassHires Access Point for the City of Boston (formerly known as One-Stop Career Centers). As the lead agency in the initiative, we are working in partnership with Boston Public Health Commission for Homeless Services, Project Place and the New England Center and Home for Veterans to provide increased access to employment for individuals experiencing homelessness.

Build Your Own Program: If job seekers are not in a position to commit to the 14-week comprehensive Moving Ahead Program, St. Francis House now offers individual MAP modules to be completed one at a time for those interested in pursuing work readiness in a less rigorous environment.

We expect to serve 330 individuals through all our workforce development programs in 2019.

Program Long-Term Success

To instill a sense of hope and belief that an individual can change the trajectory of their life and help them get established on that pathway.

Program Success Monitored By

Examples of Program Success

Last year 97 individuals were enrolled in our job and life skills Moving Ahead Program (MAP). And, 109 MAP graduates continued to use our Alumni Services long after their graduation.

Refuge Services: Day Shelter

Homelessness is a state of heightened vulnerability – to violence, health issues, and exposure to the elements. It robs individuals of their self-esteem, dignity, and hope for a better future. With the passage of time, homelessness can turn into a more permanent condition as homeless individuals become alienated from society and find it difficult to reintegrate back into their communities.

Ending homelessness is dependent on ensuring homeless individuals experience homelessness only as a brief crisis, and that they expeditiously receive the services they need so they can be rehoused as quickly as possible.

Delivering Basic Services alleviates immediate pain and suffering and creates a foundation upon which one can move up and out of homelessness.

Food– Each day St. Francis House provides guests with a nutritious breakfast, lunch and take-away sandwiches. 4,697 individuals participated in our meals program and an average of 560 meals were served daily.

Clothing– We offer clean, new and used clothing for any guest who requests it. And, in order to help our guests retain their dignity and a sense of identity, guests are offered a wide selection of clothing from which to choose. Clothing was provided to 2,310 unique individuals, an increase of 35% over the prior year. We are now the ONLY major supplier of clothing to those experiencing homelessness and poverty in Boston.

Showers– For many guests our facilities are the only ones available to them.

Mailboxes/Identification Cards– Living without a home means living without essential communication, as well as a loss of a “place” that helps define identity. Guests receive St. Francis House ID cards, which foster a sense of membership in our community and are needed to apply for jobs, search for housing, or apply for and keep essential public benefits. St. Francis House provides 1,120 individuals with a mailing address and more than 750 guests with resources for state ID’s so they can access and secure important public benefits that will improve their lives.

Our on-site Medical Clinic is a successful partnership with Boston Health Care for the Homeless (BHCFH). St. Francis House provides space at our facility while they provide expert medical staff and equipment that enables the specific health requirements of our guests to be properly addressed. In addition to primary health care needs, BHCFH provides office based medication assisted treatment to guests struggling with opiate addiction. Beyond referring our guests to this clinic, our clinical staff facilitate recovery groups with BHCFH staff. In partnership with Health Care for the Homeless, 8,602 medical appointments were scheduled last year.

Budget

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Category

Human Services, General/Other Services for the Homeless

Population Served

Homeless Poor,Economically Disadvantaged,Indigent Adults

Program Short-Term Success

Our immediate goal is to alleviate or prevent the intense pain and suffering of homelessness and eliminate barriers to moving beyond homelessness by providing a continuum of direct services. People cannot focus on their recovery until their hunger is alleviated or their medical needs met.

Program Long-Term Success

Over the long-term, we help guests address their immediate needs. We create clear pathways for them to secure, maintain, as well as sustain their housing once they obtain it.

Program Success Monitored By

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Examples of Program Success

Erick M. was able to access meals, new shoes and an outfit from our Fresh Threads Clothing Program and as a result obtained a job. He is now working full time.

Benjamin J., who has been coming to our Margaret Stewart Lindsay Art Studio for years, received housing due to the support he received at St. Francis House, and the studio specifically.

Andre R., who was severely injured from burns he sustained in Franklin Park early one morning, traveled the long distance to St. Francis House on public transportation instead of calling for immediate assistance. When staff found him waiting in line to enter the building at 6:30 AM, they asked why he hadn’t called 911 for help. His response: “Because I knew you would help me.”

CEO/Executive Director/Board Comments

Management

For more than 25 years, Karen LaFrazia, Executive Director of St. Francis House, has worked as a counselor, caseworker, advocate, community organizer, and program developer. She served St. Francis House as Deputy Director for six years prior to becoming the Executive Director in 2003.

During her time at St. Francis House, Ms. LaFrazia has provided a guiding vision of growth for the agency and created a culture that fosters innovation and rewards creativity. Under her leadership, St. Francis House has become a model of integrated programs and services for poor and homeless men and women. She has inspired staff to undertake new ventures such as the Whole Health Care Clinic and the creation of LEAD – an agency-wide intake, assessment, and evaluation tool developed in partnership with the Harvard Medical School Division on Addictions and the Cambridge Health Alliance. She also spearheaded the expansion of Next Step, the agency’s permanent supported housing program, and the vocational rehabilitation Sullivan Family Moving Ahead Program.

Ms. LaFrazia played an integral role in the oversight of two successful Capital Campaigns. She steered the planning and implementation of the $6 million construction and renovation of our 70,000+ square-foot building. She also led Under One Roof, a $15.9 million initiative to expand the capacity of the agency’s most successful programs. The Campaign, which concluded in December 2011, exceeded goal by $800,000 during the worst recession in decades.

In 2008, Ms. LaFrazia was a recipient of the Massachusetts Commission on the Status of Women’s Unsung Heroine Award, and in 2009 she was honored by the Boston University Alumni Association for “Outstanding Contributions to the Field of Social Work.” In 2012, she was the first recipient of HomeStart’s Partner Award.

At the invitation of Mayor Thomas Menino, Ms. LaFrazia also serves on the Leadership Council of the Boston Regional Network to End Homelessness. The Network looks for innovative ways to eliminate family and individual homelessness in Boston.

Prior to joining the St. Francis House family, Ms. LaFrazia was a social worker and later the Director of Social Services with the Salvation Army in Massachusetts. She has also worked as a supervisor at a residential treatment facility for adolescents in Wakefield, MA, and was a founding member and president of the Somerville Homeless Coalition.

Ms. LaFrazia has a Bachelor's degree in social work from Regis College and a Master's degree in social work from Boston University. She also is the recipient of a honorary doctorate from her alma mater, Regis College, in recognition of her commitment to social justice and service to ‘the dear neighbor’.

Short Term Solvency

Long Term Solvency

Fiscal Year

2017

2016

2015

Long-term Liabilities/Total Assets

0%

0%

0%

CEO/Executive Director/Board Comments

St. Francis House believes that homelessness is an experience, not an identity. Our goal is to provide our guests with everything they need to reclaim dignity and rebuild their lives: nutritious meals, clothing, access to medical care, counseling, vocational rehabilitation, and housing. Vocational rehabilitation, in particular, is a strategic institutional goal, focused on helping our guests re-enter the workforce and positively engage with the world; strengthening themselves, their families, and the social and economic fabric of our communities.

As the largest homeless day shelter in New England, St. Francis House provides services to an estimated 500-600 unduplicated individuals each day. With our open door policy everyone is welcome, and we are open 365 days of the year. Our integrated continuum of services and programs fall into three broad categories: refuge, readiness, and recovery.

Foundation Comments

Financial summary data in charts and graphs are per the organization's IRS Form 990s. Contributions from foundations and corporations are listed under individuals when the breakout was not available.

Documents

Other Documents

No Other Documents currently available.

Impact

The Impact tab is a section on the Giving Common added in October 2013; as such the majority of nonprofits have not yet had the chance to complete this voluntary section. The purpose of the Impact section is to ask five deceptively simple questions that require reflection and promote communication about what really matters – results. The goal is to encourage strategic thinking about how a nonprofit will achieve its goals. The following Impact questions are being completed by nonprofits slowly, thoughtfully and at the right time for their respective organizations to ensure the most accurate information possible.

1. What is your organization aiming to accomplish?

Goal 1: St. Francis House works in concert with the night shelters in the Greater Boston area and fills a much needed niche in day services for homeless adults. Individuals who stay in a nighttime shelter must leave every morning so the facility can be cleaned and prepared for the next night. We open at 7:00 AM when night shelters are closing, and close at 3:00 PM when they are re-opening. Our Atrium, on the first floor, and the Day Center, one flight up, provide a safe, comfortable alternative to spending the day on the street. Here, guests can escape the elements, enjoy the company of friends, and watch the local news or a movie chosen by one of our discussion groups. In bitterly cold, windy and wet winter months, access to a warm and dry place is essential, just as much as an air conditioned environment provides relief to homeless adults during excessive heat - otherwise they are at risk of heat exhaustion, heatstroke and dehydration – all serious conditions. Indeed, the average age at death for homeless individuals living in Boston is 47 years of age. Goal 2: To alleviate the immediate pain and suffering of our guests by meeting basic needs – food, clothing, showers, access to medical care, and counseling. Goal 3: To help our guests move up and out of homelessness toward self-sufficiency, employment, and permanent housing.

2. What are your strategies for making this happen?

We provide all of the programs and services our guests need under one roof. The ability to do this is our greatest organizational strength. For example, a guest may come to St. Francis House for a meal, but if a staff member observes a more severe problem – such as mental illness, the guest can be taken directly to a mental health counselor in our building for help. This removes any potential barriers to guests receiving the help they need. Simply put, our guests receive the most extensive and complete spectrum of integrated services in the Greater Boston area. From basic refuge services to readiness and recovery strategies such as workforce development services and housing, we work as a team to support individuals as they progress from the streets and shelters to self-sufficiency.

3. What are your organization’s capabilities for doing this?

Last year, St. Francis House served a total of 6,451 adults experiencing homelessness and poverty.

4,697 individuals participated in our meals program, where we served an average of 560 meals per day.

675 individuals were provided with resources to acquire a state-issued ID cards, which is needed to receive public benefits.

492 individuals received clinical and case management services.

61 individuals were housed in single-room, permanent housing available in our Next Step Supported Housing Program.

97 individuals received job training and life skills in our Moving Ahead Program.

4. How will your organization know if you are making progress?

Our most obvious indicator of success comes from our workforce development Moving Ahead Program (MAP), where we have a good track record of helping people get back on their feet and on a pathway to a successful career. The program has more than 1,500 alumni. Other programs help guests prepare for MAP and for lives free of institutions. Our Counseling and Mental Health Department, for example, provides individual and group counseling, as well as psychiatric care, for guests who want to become stable and sober. Small victories, such as gaining trust in a clinician, lead to larger victories over time as guests learn to deal with years of trauma and begin making positive changes. At times, the Counseling staff also advises family members who want to help an estranged loved one who is struggling with mental illness or addiction. As an example, one family contacted the department because they wanted to celebrate their daughter's birthday without initiating direct contact, which could trigger her psychosis. The staff suggested an anonymous gift that she and other guests could enjoy. As a result, the family provided ice cream – a rare treat in a homeless shelter – for all of our guests and our staff.

5. What have and haven’t you accomplished so far?

In 2012, St. Francis House built out its fifth floor in order to add 3 new classrooms for our workforce development programs. The goal was to reduce the time students had to wait to enroll in the Moving Ahead Program (MAP). Often, they waited 6 months or more, which prolonged their suffering and trauma. This expansion doubled our capacity from serving 100 to 200 students and decreased the wait time to 1 to 3 months, yet demand for MAP continues to exceed our capacity.

In 2016, St. Francis House purchased the building across the street from us at 48 Boylston Street. And, never before in our organization’s history has one single action had such a positive impact. Simply put, this once in a life time purchase will allow us to optimize our programs and services to more effectively meet the growing needs of poor and homeless adults in the City of Boston.

With the purchase and redevelopment of 48 Boylston Street we will provide critical permanent affordable housing units, improve access to substance use disorder treatment (by space created at 39 Boylston), and significantly increase job and life skills training, and job readiness for homeless adults.